Four sites where the sleeping rooms are cut from snow and ice. Buildings of this kind stand for one winter only and are raised again the following year, so their plan and their dates are set afresh every season. Three of the operators also keep heated buildings, and each entry says so where that is the case.
Sorrisniva stands on the Alta river outside the town of Alta, in the far north of Norway. The igloo hotel there is made of snow and ice, stands for one winter and is raised again the next; none of it is permanent. The operator also keeps heated buildings on the same site, and those are open through the rest of the year.
The winter house holds sleeping chambers, a chapel and a bar, all cut from ice and snow and carved anew each year by invited artists. Guests sleep in insulated bags on beds of ice. Washing rooms and dressing rooms are in the heated buildings beside it, so the ice house carries no plumbing of its own.
Ask the hotel for the dates of the winter season before booking, since they are set afresh each year. It is also worth asking what is handed out for the night, where luggage is kept, and which parts of the site stay open in the warm months.
CategoryIce Hotels
LocationAlta river, Alta, Norway
CheckedSeptember 2026
Snowman World Igloo Hotel
Rovaniemi, Finland
Snowman World keeps its igloo hotel at Santa Claus Village, north of Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland. The snow and ice rooms there last one winter and are built again for the next season, so the plan is never the same twice. The same operator runs heated apartments on the same site, which are let when the snow house is closed.
Sleeping rooms are cut into snow and finished with ice, with beds laid on ice blocks and insulated bags for the night. An ice restaurant and an ice bar stand beside them. Washing rooms, lockers and a heated desk are in the permanent buildings a few steps away, which is where guests dress and leave their bags.
Ask which weeks the snow rooms are open, because the season depends on the weather and on the build. Worth settling as well: what bedding is handed out, whether the heated apartments can be taken instead, and how the site is reached in the dark hours.
CategoryIce Hotels
LocationSanta Claus Village, Rovaniemi, Finland
CheckedSeptember 2026
Iglu-Dorf Zermatt
Zermatt, Switzerland
Iglu-Dorf keeps a village of snow domes on a mountain terrace above Zermatt, in the Swiss Valais. It is a separate site of the operator rather than a house in the town, it is built again each winter, and it melts when the season ends. Access depends on the weather and on the mountain transport, and is settled with the operator.
The village holds sleeping domes of several sizes, a bar and a hot tub on the terrace, with the Matterhorn in view from the open ledge. Beds are laid on benches of snow with insulated bags above them. Washing arrangements are simple, and the operator sets them out when a night is confirmed.
Ask the operator how the village is reached on your dates and what is done when the weather closes the way; this reference gives no advice on that. Ask as well what is handed out for the night and where luggage is left in the valley.
Lainio Snow Village stands at Lainio, between Ylläs and Levi in the Kittilä district of Finnish Lapland. Its halls, bar, chapel and sleeping rooms are cut from snow and ice each season to a new design, and they melt when the thaw comes. The operator also keeps heated cabins on the site, which are let through the winter alongside the snow rooms.
The village is laid out as a set of joined halls, with an ice exhibition, an ice restaurant and a small chapel used for ceremonies. Sleeping rooms hold beds of ice with insulated bags above them. Heated changing rooms and washing rooms stand in the permanent buildings at the entrance, where guests leave their outdoor clothes.
Ask for the dates of the current winter season and for the design of the year, since both are set anew. It is also worth asking whether the heated cabins are open, how far the site lies from the nearest village, and what is handed out for the night.
CategoryIce Hotels
LocationLainio, Kittilä, Finnish Lapland
CheckedSeptember 2026
footballyring is independent, sells nothing and books nothing. Snow and ice buildings are seasonal: they are put up each winter and melt when the thaw comes, and no dates are promised here. Weather closes access to mountain sites. Ask the operator for the dates of the current season and for what is handed out for the night.
